Pulling the trigger

If you want the doors to open someone has to kill someone first were the words class V3 heard. All the students’ eyes were pointed at Leila. She had the gun. She looked into the terrified eyes and saw all the students slowly backing further and further away.

Leila was isolated from the whole class, she had no friends. Every day she went to class, eyes filled with hostility and disgust would stare at her. The source of the hatred to Leila, the source of her torment was Jessica. She never said anything to her face, rather she treated Leila like air. Jessica spread rumors about her being a slut, and made her the most hated person in school. Jessica made sure that nobody wanted to befriend a thing like her. It all started because Leila once talked to her boyfriend, Leila didn’t even know he was her boyfriend and was it that wrong to talk to him? Only from that one little interaction, that didn't even last a minute, Leila had become the archenemy of Jessica. Girls gossiped non-stop about her, guys harassed her by asking for sex, and sometimes even assaulted her. They all saw her as a second-rate human, someone who deserved to be treated that way for ‘being a hoe’. Everyone made her feel either like a rag or worse like air. Leila hated her life, her class, Jessica, but the thing she hated the most was herself. If she didn’t talk to Jessica’s boyfriend that day, if she didn't act like a slut she would have had a much better life. What did she do to herself?

Jessica wasn’t even there in the room with them. Her parents didn’t want to pay for her trip. In their eyes, she was a delinquent with bad grades, the shame of the family. If only she could’ve been more like her brother. Jessica didn’t know how thankful she would be that day for being less than her brother. 

Geoffrey’s heart was bursting out of his chest. He was certain that every vein in Leila’s body hated him. Three years ago Leila’s mother was in debt. She was working for Geoffrey’s father when she was accused by the government of tax fraud. She was in an unstable financial situation, this made her unreliable and Geoffrey’s father decided to fire her. She first lost her source of income, then the custody of her only child, and then her house. A year later Leila’s mother jumped in front of a train. A feeling of guilt overwhelmed him and before he knew it he was running around to find Leila. After searching for an hour and ignoring the numerous bells, he found her. She sat behind the school building with her head lowered to her knees. The closer Geoffrey came the better he could hear her wailing and the bigger the pain in his heart grew. Leila’s head rose and looked Geoffrey directly in the eyes. Geoffrey was expecting anger and forlorn in her eyes, not those dreary ones. Geoffrey was speechless, he didn’t know why he sought her in the first place. Painful seconds that felt like an eternity went by. A bell rang. And he left Leila, without saying a word to her.

Geoffrey was convinced she was going to shoot him. Her mother died because of his father, it would only be fair if Leila took Geoffrey’s life. An eye for an eye. Furthermore, what was he thinking when he was looking for her? Just standing around peering at her and leaving without a word. It wouldn’t surprise him if she considered it gloating. She must’ve loathed him for so long. And now she had the chance to kill him.

Leon’s legs were quivering. He was the teacher of class V3. When he enthusiastically agreed to escort V3 on their school trip, he only imagined fun things. But now a loaded gun was in the hands of a student, and she was going to shoot, she had to. It was one dead or all dead. The moral thing to do right now was to sacrifice himself. He was supposed to protect those children whose lives barely had begun. And he thought Leila had every right to murder him. 

When he got his driving license he was reckless on the road. Sometimes he saw the road as a racetrack, other times he was on his phone while driving and one time, only one time he was drunk. It was after his graduation party, he had drunk ten glasses of beer but there’s no way he walked home. Driving to the place took him an hour, and he just couldn’t leave his car behind. 

From afar the traffic light was turning yellow. The adrenaline kick in his body made him speed up the car, he got this. And then it happened, the traffic light wasn’t the only thing that turned red. He smashed a car and rode further and further. The speed was immense it took twenty seconds before the car finally stopped. Leon’s skin was pierced with window pieces and his neck hurt, but that was the least of his concern. In front of him, he saw red. A red car, red hair, and red blood. It was dripping non-stop out of the body, multiple bones throughout the side looked broken. He looked away he couldn’t bear to see it, he couldn’t face what he had done. Then he passed out.

He woke up in the hospital and heard that the man he hurt, Guzman Arango died in the hospital. The immense guilt, the immense pain that was brought with it was worse than his injuries. In court, he had to face the wife and the daughter of Arango. It was mortifying, he had robbed them of a father and a husband. That day the daughter was outside the courtroom, she had to be around five years old. ‘Why can’t I go inside? I want to see papa! Why couldn’t I see him these past few days?’ she yelled at her mother. This girl, her red hair, her dark brown innocent-looking eyes, Leon wouldn’t have expected he would see them again.

When Leon first came into the classroom of V3 he didn’t realize she was there. Leila was somewhere hidden in the back and covering her face with her hair. Moreover, he had hidden the accident in the back of his head, he never wanted to think about it anymore. He had changed! He was a different person back then! Only when he checked absence, only when her name rolled out of his tongue. He shivered after saying Arango. He zoomed in on her; the red hair, the dark brown eyes there was no doubt it was her. She didn’t seem to recognize him, the only way she could’ve recognized him was by remembering one of the many people who were in the courtroom hall that day. 

Leon was positive he wasn’t going to get shot, but it didn’t feel right with him, not at all. In the end, he couldn’t do anything, his movement and his throat were locked. And the key was somewhere hidden behind his cowardice. He was still a human. He wanted to survive he wanted to live. 

Then there was Jonathan. His body was panicking on his own with a person with a gun facing him. However, he quickly sorted himself out with rationality. He had always tried to be kind to Leila and when he saw a comment asking Leila to just kill herself already Jonathan responded that that was going too far. By doing that he got cyberbullied for a few days. Among the hate DMs of several accounts, there was a name that stood out for him: Leila Arango. Thank you for standing up to me, you’re the only one who is nice to me at school. But I don’t understand why you would do it said the message. Why wouldn’t I was the simple reply of Jonathan. Leila and Jonathan were not friends, but they were on good terms. Whenever he saw her in public, he always made sure to greet her with a smile. 

Jonathan knew that he had the best relationship with her out of everyone. The others all ostracized her. He feared what Leila might do with that gun in her hand. That revolver contained a lot of ammunition. She might…no she wouldn’t….right? A gun loaded with tons of bullets, an enclosed room full of people you hate. This was the perfect opportunity. A gun in the hands of a normally powerless person, that’s irrefutable danger. It wouldn’t be surprising if she would make use of that power, a taste of the wine that’s normally out of her reach, only drunken by her oppressors. It was an enticing thing to do. Jonathan knew she was capable of that, and he knew that he was the only one that could stop her. 

‘Leila!’ he shouted. Leila looked him in the eyes. Her face seemed neutral, but her eyes gave it away. They howled her appetence for power. Her yearning for power. From having no control to suddenly being the most powerful. Her eyes were leering, she had already given in, she had already made her choice. The moment she picked up the gun had triggered this feeling. There was nothing Jonathan could do. He wasn’t her friend, he didn’t even know Leila that well. A silent ‘please’ was all that came out of his throat. He doubted that Leila could’ve even heard it. 

Leila loaded the gun. People were screaming, running in panic, and hiding behind each other. Some students were kicking the door. Others made themselves as small as possible, and others turned tables and chairs around to use as shields. Leila then rose the gun, pointed it to her head, and pulled the trigger.